After his recent encounters with Uzumaki Shixia,
Kakuzu had learned that this guy was a real oddball.
Now, seeing Uzumaki Shixia react like this, he was perfectly calm instead.
In the Akatsuki, losing your mind now and then was fine, as long as it did not interfere with completing missions.
"Follow me."
Kakuzu's voice soon reached Uzumaki Shixia's ears.
Sixia did not refuse. He brought Karin along and left with Kakuzu.
Kakuzu then led Sixia to an empty suite in the tower.
"From now on, this suite will belong to you two whenever you're at this base."
Then he added to Sixia, "As for your clothes, I'll bring them over later."
Sixia interrupted him. "Not my clothes. Clothes for both me and her."
As he spoke, Sixia raised his hand and patted Karin's shoulder.
Kakuzu's face twitched. Rather than argue with Uzumaki Shixia over such a trivial detail, he simply turned and left.
Before long, Kakuzu did indeed bring over two Black Sky, Red Clouds Robes.
After handing the Black Sky, Red Clouds Robes to Uzumaki Shixia, Kakuzu spoke casually.
"Take the rest of today off. Starting tomorrow, you'll officially be going on missions."
Sixia nodded slightly. "No problem. We'll officially start taking missions tomorrow!"
Once Kakuzu left, Karin asked curiously, "Are we going to be living here for a while?"
Sixia walked over to a fairly clean sofa and casually sat down.
Once seated, he shook his head.
"We probably won't come back here very often. Most of the time, we'll be out on missions."
"Of course, you can stay here long-term if you want."
At that, Karin immediately huffed.
"Hmph! I don't want to stay here!"
"I want to go with you!"
"I told you, I'll be really useful."
Normally, she would certainly have been safer staying here, or somewhere else in Amegakure.
But as far as Karin was concerned, staying with Uzumaki Shixia still felt safer.
"Hahaha..."
Hearing Karin's words, Sixia could not help getting up, walking over to the beautiful girl, and thoroughly ruffling her red hair.
Karin pouted, looking utterly defeated.
At dinnertime, the Akatsuki's support staff delivered meals directly to them.
After dinner, Karin washed up and went back to her own room to sleep.
Sixia went up to the tower's rooftop terrace and began experimenting with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
An incredible surge of lightning power instantly swept through his entire body.
Streaks of blue electricity flickered wildly around Sixia.
Many members of the Akatsuki soon appeared in the surrounding shadows.
Everyone was alarmed by Uzumaki Shixia's current state.
Apart from Kakuzu, the other members of the Akatsuki did not know Uzumaki Shixia's true combat strength.
But now, they could not help being deeply shocked by the purity of Uzumaki Shixia's lightning release chakra and the might of his Lightning Release abilities.
Rumble!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The spectacle caused by Uzumaki Shixia's experiments with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit continued for quite some time before gradually subsiding.
His supremely pure lightning release chakra, along with his immensely powerful Lightning Release abilities and talent,
left a profound impression on everyone in the Akatsuki.
After trying out the version of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit modified for the shinobi world, Uzumaki Shixia was in an exceptionally good mood.
Rather than linger in the cold wind on the rooftop terrace of the Amegakure Tower, he soon returned to the suite he shared with Karin.
After washing up, he settled down to rest as well.
An invisible electromagnetic field soon spread outward in every direction, with him at its center.
Roughly one-eighth of Amegakure fell within his electromagnetic field.
He could also use Mantra to monitor every little movement within that range.
The night passed uneventfully.
Early the following morning, Sixia and Karin got up and washed.
After changing into their Black Sky, Red Clouds Robes, Sixia took Karin to meet Kakuzu.
The three soon left the Amegakure Tower and headed to the black market.
Kakuzu and Sixia were both regulars at the black market. Both had good reputations, making it easy for them to pick up missions.
However, when Kakuzu was about to accept a bounty mission, Sixia stopped him.
"I only do commission missions."
Kakuzu was speechless.
"Where am I supposed to find that many commission missions for you?"
"You don't have to fight. Just wait nearby until I finish the mission."
Most mission targets were small fry to Kakuzu. He had no need to team up with Uzumaki Shixia to deal with them.
Uzumaki Shixia shook his head. "No. I only accept commission missions."
"Wait!"
Before he had even finished speaking, a question suddenly occurred to Uzumaki Shixia.
Kakuzu turned back in confusion, wondering why this guy was getting so worked up.
If I have Kakuzu hire me as an assistant to help him complete bounty missions, will that trigger the system's rewards?
The thought immediately excited Uzumaki Shixia.
If this worked, then there would be no difference between missions for him!
Uzumaki Shixia spoke directly to Kakuzu.
"Kakuzu, you could actually hire me to help you complete bounty missions. I only want half the payment."
Kakuzu's eyes widened at that, and he muttered to himself.
"Use half the bounty to hire Uzumaki Shixia?"
That might actually work!
Given Uzumaki Shixia's current strength, if the two of them worked together,
as long as it wasn't something like assassinating a Kage, they could probably pull it off!
Kakuzu reached into his pocket and rummaged around.
He pulled out a stack of commission slips, flipped through them, and selected one.
"This is a bounty mission to hunt down Amegakure's rogue ninja. There are ten of them, scattered outside the village. I never bothered with it because it was too much trouble."
"The bounty isn't bad, either. Twenty thousand ryo each!"
"Uzumaki Shixia, I'm hiring you for one hundred thousand ryo to help me complete this mission to hunt down Amegakure's rogue ninja."
[New commission mission detected!] [Employer: Kakuzu] [Mission objective: Assist Kakuzu in completing the mission to hunt down Amegakure's rogue ninja.] [Mission payment: 100,000 ryo.] [Mission rank: B-Rank] [Mission reward: 100 commission points]
When he heard the system notification, Uzumaki Shixia was dumbfounded.
"Holy shit, I actually exploited this bug?"
Uzumaki Shixia was ecstatic. If this worked too, he could grind commission missions far more efficiently!
Over the days that followed, Uzumaki Shixia began following Kakuzu around, grinding missions like mad.
He turned nothing down.
With Uzumaki Shixia and Kakuzu together, operating in Amegakure's little patch of territory,
they utterly outclassed their opposition. Their mission efficiency was unbelievably high.
Within the range of Uzumaki Shixia's Mantra, their targets had nowhere to hide.
Missions that would previously have taken Kakuzu at least three to five days
could now be completed with practically no effort.
In the blink of an eye, night fell, and the three checked into an inn.
Looking utterly exhausted, Kakuzu handed Uzumaki Shixia thirty thousand ryo as payment.
Normally, Kakuzu would not have accepted a mission that paid so little.
But the two of them completed missions so efficiently that the black market was already running out of work.
[Commission mission successfully completed!] [Reward: 30 commission points]
Hearing the system notification announcing the mission's completion, Sixia was overjoyed.
He had ground through plenty of missions these past days and earned a wealth of rewards.
He was racing down the path toward becoming a humanoid Ten-Tails!
The next day, dawn had barely broken.
Kakuzu had only just lain down when someone began pounding on his door.
Uzumaki Shixia's voice rang out at the same time.
"Kakuzu! Brother Kakuzu! Lord Kakuzu! Open up!"
"Stop sleeping! It's time to go on missions!"
Hearing this, Kakuzu felt as though his head would split apart.
He thought to himself, Is this guy even human?
They had spent all of yesterday doing missions nonstop, and now he wanted to go again before it was even fully light!
Bang, bang, bang-
The sharp knocking continued.
Inside the room, Kakuzu, who had been sleeping, felt utterly drained.
His green eyes turned toward the door, and he let out an exhausted sigh.
Heavy dark circles had actually formed on his grayish-green face.
"This... monster!"
"It's been a whole two weeks!"
"He's been grinding missions nonstop the entire time!"
"Does this guy not need any rest at all?"
"Is he willing to work himself to death for money?"
"How does he have so much energy?"
Before meeting Uzumaki Shixia,
Kakuzu had considered himself a mission fanatic in a league of his own.
After witnessing Uzumaki Shixia in action,
Kakuzu had to admit that his own enthusiasm for missions was nowhere near enough.
He could hand that title over to Uzumaki Shixia now.
Uzumaki Shixia was like some kind of monster. He had spent all of yesterday doing missions, then came knocking before dawn today.
Didn't he get tired? How could he work nonstop like this and still be full of energy every day?
After sighing, Kakuzu rolled over and chose to ignore the knocking outside.
He might have several hearts, and those hearts could take turns feeling exhausted, but his mind could not work in shifts.
No matter what, he was going to get some proper rest today.
While Kakuzu was thinking about all this, Uzumaki Shixia was checking his status panel outside the room.
[Name: Uzumaki Shixia] [Sex: Male] [Age: 18] [Commission points: 225] [Chakra natures: Fire (B-Rank), Wind (C-Rank), Lightning (SSS-Rank), Water (B-Rank), Earth (B-Rank), Yang (B-Rank), Yin (B-Rank)] [Total chakra: SSS+ Rank (Your chakra reserves already exceed those of most tailed beasts, rivaling a perpetual motion machine.)] [Physical strength: SSS-Rank (Your body is far tougher than metal. Ordinary ninjutsu can no longer harm you.)] "Talents" [Heavenly thunder: Greatly increases Lightning Release affinity and raises the probability of obtaining lightning-related rewards in draws.] [Rumble-Rumble Fruit (modified for the shinobi world)] [Description: SSS-Rank. The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is a treasure originating from the Pirate World. It has now been adapted to the shinobi world, with its side effects removed!] [Development level: A-Rank] [Currently unlocked abilities] [Mantra: Allows you to sense every movement within a certain range around you.] [Lightning Finger: Releases lightning through the fingers to attack a target.] [Instant Transmission: Transforms into an electric current to move through the surrounding electric field or travel through conductors.] [Lightning Bolt: Transforms an arm into lightning and condenses a massive lightning pillar to attack surrounding targets or precisely strike targets within Mantra's range.] [Lightning Flash: Transforms into lightning, releasing light and heat to become immune to all physical attacks.] [Discharge: Releases lightning in all directions without blind spots, attacking indiscriminately.] [Divine Punishment: Condenses a pillar of lightning to continuously bombard the enemy.] [Electrotherapy: Uses an electric current to treat the heart, restarting a heart that has stopped beating.] [Lightning Metallurgy: Uses lightning to melt metal and reshape it. Can also be used to craft weapons.] [Thunderclap: Generates a supersonic shock wave with the roar of lightning, repelling incoming attacks from all directions.] [30 Million Volts: Thunder Beast: Condenses lightning into a lightning wolf to attack a target, emphasizing destructive power.] [30 Million Volts: Thunder Bird: Condenses lightning into a lightning bird to attack a target, emphasizing attack speed.] [Kekkei Genkai: None] "Ninjutsu" [Substitution Technique: Proficiency S-Rank] [Lightning Release: Lightning Ball: Proficiency S-Rank] [Lightning Release: Lightning Clone: Proficiency A-Rank] [Lightning Release: Earth Flow: Proficiency S-Rank] [Lightning Release: Lariat: Proficiency SS-Rank] [Lightning Release: Lariat: Proficiency S-Rank] [Lightning Release: Lightning Burial: Proficiency A-Rank] [Lightning Blade: Proficiency A-Rank]
Before you continue